A consultation into the government’s vision for better use of England’s land has a couple of weeks left to run, and people in the South are being called on to take part.
The consultation will inform the making of a Land Use Framework, one of the aims of which is to see less high-quality farmland being lost to housebuilding or energy projects.
A report from the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) said: “At a national and local scale, we need better spatial planning. For too long, a haphazard approach has been taken to the way infrastructure is sited or homes are built.
“In order to grow the economy and meet the challenges of future decades, we need to use our data to make better decisions.”
Those challenges include reducing emissions and making space for nature, whilst also delivering new
infrastructure and housing and maintaining food production.
Members of the Save Our South Coast Alliance called for ‘as many voices as possible’ to tell the government that current planning laws were ‘flawed’.
A spokesman said: “We welcome the present government’s initiative in engaging with the public to hear their views as to how best to use and future-proof our fragile land.
“There are only a few days left for your voice to be heard. It is important that government has a clear idea of what the priorities are for land use by acknowledging the concerns of communities.”
The Alliance is made up of volunteers from different action groups whose aim is to save the fragile natural habitat of the Chichester Coastal Plain.
Biodiversity and the treatment of wetlands are, unsurprisingly, high on the Alliance’s list of concerns.
The spokesman said: “Despite an abundance of National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Britain has one of the worst records globally for biodiversity.
“This is because our protected areas are based primarily on landscape criteria and not biodiversity. It is also because we privilege certain ecosystems above others.
“Wetland is one of the world’s most important and diverse habitats and ecosystems and one of the best at capturing carbon. Our estuaries across our much-protected harbours are under threat due to the persistent illegal sewage levels which are too often ignored by government policies.”
Another concern raised by the Alliance is the need for a law to be created – ‘sooner rather than later’ – stating that solar panels need to be placed on rooftops and not on agricultural land.
The consultation closes on April 25. To take part, log on to the Defra website.
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